Social entrepreneurs in Africa, backed by the likes of Microsoft and Ikea, are attempting to satisfy a huge demand for learning across the continent. Could they find the next Steve Jobs in the process?

Place a sample on a semi-transparent disc, scan it on a DVD reader, see the results on a monitor, and you can test blood cells, DNA, RNA, and proteins. One of the team believes it could have a "transformative effect" on health in East Africa.

Using the 2-million-year-old remains of several partial skeletons, the archaeological team created a reconstruction of a species with a human-like pelvis, hands, and teeth, and a chimpanzee-like foot—an australopithecine by any other name.

The Dadaab Stories site gives you a window into daily life in the African camp, home to 500,000 Somali refugees. But it’s not Western filmmakers making sob stories: The site is reported by the refugees themselves.